The classes and training practicums are taught primarily by the staff of the George Eastman House's motion picture department. Experts in the archival field from national and international institutions are scheduled to hold special seminars for students on a regular basis in order to cover the broad variety of topics in the program.

Motion Picture Department Staff

Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Research Center
Jared is a native of Western New York, and has studied at SUNY Cortland, SUNY Brockport and The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation (class of 2002). He was hired as a Curatorial Assistant in 2002 and moved into cataloging in 2003. Jared's main duties involve the maintenance and administration of the cataloging database, TMS (The Museum System).


Lori Donnelly, Film Programmer
Lori comes to Rochester after serving as associate programmer for the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in the Washington, D.C., area. At the AFI, she programmed film festivals including an annual Latin American Film Festival and the European Union Film Showcase, in addition to her regular work filling the AFI's three screens nightly.

Donnelly previously worked at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She was the head programmer for the Rhode Island and Boston Asian-American Film Festivals and a programming consultant at the Tribeca Film Festival.

David Frassetto, Curatorial Assistant—Digital Stills
David received his BA in Communication/Broadcasting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1998. After graduation, David was employed by broadcast news for six years as a video editor, as well as a videographer, master control and studio camera operator. He also worked with Crown Media for three years in video quality assurance. A 2009 MFA graduate from Visual Studies Workshop, SUNY Brockport and his 2008 summer internship at George Eastman House led to his current staff position.


Nancy Kauffman, Stills Archivist
Nancy received her BA in English from Arizona State University in 1987 and her Master's in Library Science from Emporia State University in 2004. She graduated from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation in 2005. She worked as a paralegal in litigation and environmental law for 16 years in Portland, Oregon. Nancy joined the Motion Picture Department shortly after graduating from the Selznick School as a Curatorial Assistant. In 2007 she was promoted to Stills Archivist.


Anthony L'Abbate, Preservation Officer
Anthony is a 1999 graduate of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, after graduation he worked for two years at the Cinema Arts Laboratory, in Angels, Pennsylvania, as their contact printer. He returned to George Eastman House in the fall of 2001 as the stills archivist. Since March of 2007 he has worked in preservation.


Deborah Stoiber, Vault Manager
Deborah is from Fresno, CA where she received her BA in Economics from California State University, Fresno. She graduated from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School in 1998. After graduation, she spent time at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY working on their 16mm collection. She was the Assistant Vault Manager, William K. Everson Collection at GEH from 1998-2000 and has been the Vault Manager of the Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center since 2000.


Jeffrey Stoiber, Assistant Curator, The L. Jeffrey School of Film Preservation
Jeff has both his BA in Media Studies (1993) and his Masters of Library Science (1997) from the State University of New York at Buffalo, his hometown. While completing his MLS he interned at both the American Film Institute and the George Eastman House. The Eastman House internship led to his employment as the Administrator of the Selznick School a position he's held since 1997.


Edward E. Stratmann, Associate Curator, Preservation
Hired by James Card in 1974, Ed has worked for all five Curators/Department heads of the Motion Picture Department. He started as a Curatorial Assistant, working with nitrate. Over the years he has been Film Technician, Vault Manager, Projectionist, in charge of the Study Center, and Assistant Curator. He took over Preservation in 1988. Ed received The AMIA Dan and Kathy Leab Award and The Pordenone Preservation Award, both in 1998. He is a founding member of AMIA and has served on the AMIA Board of Directors, as Secretary. Ed has been a member of SMPTE for over ten years and has been on the local board of Managers three times.


Ben Tucker, Collection Processing Technician
Ben Tucker was born and raised in Nitro, WV and received a Film Studies degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation he worked in various positions at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and then in the Film & Video Department at the Andy Warhol Museum. In 2002 he moved to Rochester to attend The L. Jeffery Selznick School of Film Preservation and has been an employee of the Motion Picture Department since graduation.


Daniel Wagner, Preservation Officer
Dan is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation in 2000. After graduation he spent 5 years as the Safety Vault Manager at the Eastman House and is currently the Preservation Officer in Charge of Digital Initiatives.


Tim Wagner, Film Technician & Coordinator of Shipping
Tim is from Buffalo, New York where he received his BA in Media Production & Distribution from SUNY Buffalo. He graduated in 2001 from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. Tim has experience working in film and video production & post-production, theatrical projection, broadcast television, distance learning, corporate communications, archival projection and film handling. He participated in archival staff exchanges with the National Library of Norway and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. His passions include amusement parks, roller coasters, movie theaters, and band organs.


Kyle Westphal, Chief Projectionist
Kyle earned a bachelor's degree in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Chicago in 2007 and graduated from the Selznick School in 2009. For four years he served variously as treasurer, projectionist, historian, and ultimately programming chair for Chicago's Doc Films. He has also interned or worked at the Bank of America Cinema, the University of Chicago Film Studies Center, the Little Theatre, Monaco Digital Film Lab, UCLA Film & Television Archive, and the Pacific Film Archive. His interests include avant-garde cinema, early talkies, and the history of non-theatrical distribution and exhibition. His program notes are featured on Kino's "Avant-Garde 3" DVD box set, which recently won a Film Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics.

Caroline Yeager, Assistant Curator, Administration
Caroline has been a staff member since 1998 when she graduated from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. She has 25 years of experience working in performing arts, an MFA from Temple University (1975), and a BS from SUNY Brockport (1972). As Assistant Curator, MPD, she works on the glamorous side of archiving: writing grants to support the collections and developing exhibitions for public access.


98 when she graduated from The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation. She has 25 years of experience working in performing arts, an MFA from Temple University (1975), and a BS from SUNY Brockport (1972). As Assistant Curator, MPD, she has the following responsibilities: Providing access to the film collection through film loans; Assisting donors with acquisitions and access to film materials, negotiating, drafting and editing donor and deposit agreements; Grant Writing and supervision; Management and supervision of department budgets; providing the public with information on the motion picture collections and access.


Past and Present Instructors

  • Gary Albright (Photographic Conservation)
  • Barry Allen (Film Archiving and Corporate Collections)
  • Janice Allen (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Kyle Alvut (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Callie Angell (Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Preservation)
  • Mary Lea Bandy (Curatorial Issues)
  • Schawn Belston (Film Archiving and Corporate Collections)
  • Jean-Louis Bigourdan (Image Permanence)
  • Peter Bogdanovich (Film History)
  • Neil Brand (Silent Film Accompaniment)
  • Peter Brothers (Magnetic Tape Preservation)
  • Harold Brown (Film Handling, Cleaning, and Repair)
  • Kevin Brownlow (Independent Film Preservation)
  • Philip C. Carli (Silent Film Accompaniment)
  • Harold "Rusty" Casselton (Film Collecting)
  • Paolo Cherchi Usai (Film Preservation, Curatorial Issues, Archive Management)
  • James Cozart (Evaluation of Laboratory Work)
  • Grover Crisp (Film Archiving and Corporate Collections)
  • Susan E. Dalton (Cataloging)
  • Gerard de Haan (Digital Film Restoration)
  • Dennis Doros (Film and Video Distribution)
  • Ray Edmondson (Archive Management, Philosophy of Film Preservation)
  • Andy Eggers (Motion Picture Projection)
  • Lois Eggers (Film Festival Management)
  • John Erwin (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Karen Latham Everson (Cataloging)
  • David Francis (Curatorial Issues)
  • Franziska Frey (Digital Imaging)
  • Michael Friend (Digital Technologies in Film Preservation)
  • Robert Gitt (History and Preservation of Color and Sound)
  • Richard P. Goldberg (Color Film Preservation and New Color Technologies)
  • Nancy Goldman (Cataloging)
  • Peter Greenaway (Museography)
  • Robert A. Harris (Restoration of Feature Films)
  • Robert Heiber (Audio Preservation)
  • Mark Henry (Digital Film Restoration)
  • Werner Herzog (Filmmakers and Film Preservation)
  • Jan-Christopher Horak (Film Archiving in Europe)
  • Livio Jacob (Film Festivals)
  • Clyde Jeavons (Film as a National Heritage, Archive Management, Curatorial Issues)
  • Darryl Jones (Motion Picture Projection)
  • Martin Koerber (Restoration Strategies)
  • Richard Koszarski (Filmmuseums)
  • Edith Kramer (Programming, Collections Access)
  • Peter Kubelka (Philosophy of Film Preservation)
  • Jeff Lambert (Fundraising, Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Preservation)
  • Andy Lampert (Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Preservation)
  • Ted Larson (Film Collecting)
  • James Lindner (Magnetic Tape Preservation)
  • Diana Little (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Pat Loughney (Administration)
  • Gregory Lukow (Administration)
  • Mike Mashon (Acquisitions)
  • Alan Masson (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Nicola Mazzanti (Laboratory Techniques)
  • Annette Melville (Fundraising)
  • Charles Musser (Film Archives and Early Cinema)
  • Douglas Nishimura (Image Permanence)
  • Bob O'Neil (Film Archiving and Corporate Collections)
  • Gerry Orlando (Film Collecting and Public Speaking)
  • Enno Patalas (Film Restoration)
  • David Pierce (Copyright Issues)
  • Rick Prelinger (Preservation of Ephemeral Films)
  • John Pytlak (Motion Picture Projection)
  • Paul Read (Digital Laboratory Techniques)
  • James Reilly (Image Permanence)
  • Eddie Richmond (Curatorial Issues)
  • David Robinson (Film Festivals)
  • Robert Rosen (Curatorial Issues)
  • Patricia Russotti (Digital Image Manipulation)
  • Henning Schou (Film Chemistry, Hands-on Training)
  • Eric Schwartz (Intellectual Property)
  • Karan Sheldon (Regional Film Archives)
  • Scott Simmon (Film History)
  • Patrick Stanbury (Independent Film Preservation)
  • Bill Storm (Audio Preservation)
  • Dwight Swanson (Regional Film Archives)
  • Olwen Terris (Cataloging)
  • Kristin Thompson (Researching in a Film Archive)
  • Yuri Tsivian (Film Historiography)
  • Juan Vrijs (Laboratory Techniques)
  • David Weiss (Regional Film Archives)
  • James Wheeler (Videotape Preservation)
  • James Young (Audio Preservation)
  • Rollie Zavada (Small Gauge Film)